


The Unit

by Mayalaen



Series: SPNPolyBingo [15]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alien Culture, Alien Invasion, Alien Sex, Aliens, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mechanics, Crack, Fear, Gen, Government Agencies, Government Conspiracy, Mechanic Benny, Mechanic Castiel, Mechanic Dean, Mechanic Gabriel, Mechanic Meg, Mechanic Sam, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 12:29:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10854015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayalaen/pseuds/Mayalaen
Summary: Dean and his crew have made something of themselves, building a mechanic shop from the ground up and working as a team, just like they did when they were kids, but lottery winners don't get a say in what happens, and their names on the next list released._There's spoilers in the end notes if you need them.





	The Unit

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [SPNPolyBingo](http://spnpolybingo.tumblr.com) (which is being run by the very awesome [Christy](http://bendoverandbiteyourgag.tumblr.com)), and this fic is for the Mechanics AU square.

"Shut it off," Dean said, nearly conking his head on the hood of the car he was working on.

Sam sighed and turned the TV off, dropping his empty sandwich wrapper in the garbage can next to the rolling cart. "I just want to know what's going on."

"What's going on is our world leaders are fucking us all over," Dean grumbled as he hefted the carburetor out and set it on the workbench, "and there's not a damn thing any of us can do about it."

"Ignoring it won't make it go away," Sam said as he headed for the shiny sports car in the second bay. He'd left all his tools by the car to eat his lunch.

"No, but neither does sitting there watching the twenty-four-seven coverage on all the news stations," Dean said, shaking his head as he spread his tools out.

"Anything new?" Gabriel asked, buttoning up his work shirt as he came out of the office.

"Yeah, change the oil in the Caddy," Dean said over his shoulder.

"You know what I meant," Gabe said, rolling his eyes.

Castiel climbed out from under the Caddy, pulling the earbuds out of his ears, eyes wide. "They're releasing another list of lottery winners."

"I don't wanna hear it!" Dean said, throwing the tool down on the workbench with a loud clang. "All of you get back to work. We're behind on getting the van and the Caddy done, and we haven't even started on the pickup truck out in the parking lot that's older than we are."

Sam shut his mouth and went back to work while Cas shoved the earbuds into his pocket and quietly slipped back under the Caddy. Gabe never was one to keep his mouth shut, though.

"We can always run," Gabe said, slapping Dean's ass as he walked by.

Dean ignored Gabe. "And where the fuck's Benny and Meg?"

*

Two days later and two more lottery winner lists released. No one they knew, but it still freaked them the fuck out every time someone new came into the shop.

"I'm almost finished with the Camero," Meg said. "Do you want me to start on the Lincoln or take care of getting the owner of the Camero in here and paid up?"

Dean wiped some grease from his hands. "Camero chick is out shopping. Text her, but she probably won't get back to you until tonight. The Lincoln needs your special touch, so get started on her as soon as you can."

"You got it, bossman," Meg said, heading into the office to text the owner of the Camero.

"Benny, you almost finished with the oil change on that Duster?" Dean asked.

"Be about two more minutes," Benny said.

"Okay, let me know when you're done so we can get this motor mounted," Dean said, not waiting for the grunt in reply before he followed Meg into the office. There was some paperwork he needed to catch up on.

"Do you think they already have agents in place before the lottery winner lists are released?" Cas asked Gabe, keeping his voice low. "Maybe we wouldn't even have time to run."

"Guys, c'mon!" Dean said, waving them out of the office. "We've got things to do, and sitting around gossiping about who will or won't get thrown into a room and fucked by horny aliens isn't doing a damn bit of good."

Cas and Gabe were already scurrying out the door and had made it to their respective vehicles by the time Dean got done with his rant.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Meg said, shrugging as she set her phone down on the desk. "They provide food, clothing, shelter. All the necessities and plenty of amenities."

"Then why don't you volunteer?" Dean asked, flopping down on his chair and yanking open a drawer before pulling a stack of paperwork out and thumping it down on the desk.

"I'm just trying to ease the tension a little," Meg said softly. "We're all scared."

Dean sighed, then reached out and grabbed Meg by the arm, pulling her down onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her. "Sorry. I'm freaking out too, and the only thing I can think to do is push everybody to work harder and forget about it."

"Kinda hard to forget," she said, leaning on him and fitting against him like she had since they were kids, comforting one another in the orphanage.

"For all I know it's paradise," Dean said. "Maybe they do spoil the shit out of their pet humans, but I don't wanna find out. And given the fact we've all got records, I think we're high on the list, especially after that raid on the car wash up the street. Lottery my ass."

Meg huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, I agree about the lottery shit being a load of bull. They hauled seven people out of the car wash staff. All of them had records."

Dean closed his eyes and squeezed Meg a little tighter. "I want to say I won't let any of you get hurt, but I don't think I can do anything about it. That's the most frustrating part."

Meg kissed his cheek. "You've always been the big brother. You've always taken care of the rest of us, but this one's out of your control, just like you couldn't stop Benny from getting placed with that asshole when he was nine."

"I got him away from that bastard after only three months, though," Dean said, gut still clenching even twenty years after.

"Yeah, you did," Meg said. "Always been our hero."

Dean sighed. "Okay, we should get back to work. Cryin' about it doesn't do a damn bit of good."

Meg chuckled as she stood up. "You want me to pick up lunch?"

Dean's stomach growled. "Hell yeah! Anderson's?"

Meg nodded. "Yup. I'll get us all something, and I'll also get a couple pies. Cheer everybody up a little."

Dean pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed her a few twenty-dollar bills. "Chips too. Gabe and Benny will want something crunchy."

"You got it, bossman," Meg said, smiling before she walked out of the office and headed for the bay doors.

Dean grabbed a pen and started writing an invoice for the vehicles that were in the shop. They weren't finished yet, but the invoices needed to be completed anyway, and he was already sitting down.

He hated the paperwork, but he also needed to keep working. He had to or he was going to lose it. No way he was going to suicide out some people who were named in the lottery. No fucking way. If they took him or any of his crew, they were going to fight. They'd make it. They had to. They'd survive.

Meg screamed, and before Dean could get out the door, agents had surrounded the building and already had Meg, Benny, and Sam down on the floor. Gabe and Cas were making a run for it, but it was no use.

Dean kicked the first agent away, but the second one was only mildly phased by the punch to his shoulder, and the third agent grabbed hold of him, all of them getting him down on the floor and into handcuffs as Dean and his crew struggled and cussed the agents out.

*

The apartment complex was beautiful. It had taken five months to build them, but hundreds of billions of dollars had been sunk into each of the seventeen thousand or so apartment complexes all over the world, and it showed.

Meg was sticking so close to Dean that their arms brushed against each other with every step. Dean was at the front of the group, but he had no false hope that he'd be able to save them from what was going to happen.

There were trees and shrubs and flowers outside the buildings and courtyards inside the complex with water features and sitting areas. Modern features were everywhere, and alien technology had been integrated into everything while still being aesthetically pleasing.

The complex was broken up into one hundred units, each unit a separate hub of nearly four thousand square feet, seven bedrooms, seven en suite bathrooms, a large kitchen, and a generous living room area with televisions and gaming stations.

Each unit had its own laundry room, but there was no garage and no vehicles. Daily deliveries took care of all the necessities, so there was no need to leave the apartments. There was no need to do anything but survive the next six months.

"They promised, right?" Meg whispered. "Six months, and it's in writing?"

Dean nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah, kid. Six months."

"We survived ten to thirteen years in the orphanage," Meg said, grinning at him. "We can do six months."

Dean nodded again, keeping his mouth shut instead of voicing what they were all thinking. What they'd been dreading since the aliens had landed nearly a year ago, asking for 'volunteers' for their program.

They had the technology to vaporize everything. They had the technology to mentally enslave mankind and do whatever the fuck they wanted. They had the technology to eradicate every human on the planet and just take over.

But they promised they wouldn't. If the humans agreed to the program.

The lottery went into effect after the apartments were built, and not-so-surprisingly, anyone with enough money or the right connections didn't win that lottery. The prisons were nearly empty, and ex-cons along with the homeless were scarce as well.

It was something everyone knew was happening, but everyone was too scared to do anything about it. It wasn't fair, but it happened anyway.

Twenty million aliens needed fuckbuddies, and twenty million humans had been offered up like lambs to the slaughter. Any who took the quick way out and committed suicide were replaced, and the aliens didn't care about disabilities, criminal history, orientation, race, or religion. They took any and all they could get.

Dean ignored the agents with stunners and batons as they walked up to their unit and the door opened for them, keyed in to their DNA and programmed to respond appropriately to everyone in their unit.

The entryway to their new home for the next six months was breathtaking. A tasteful chandelier lit the area, and plush carpeting made everything soft and quiet, soft beneath their feet. There was art on the walls and wood furniture throughout. Earthtones and inviting colors continued as they made their way to the living room area.

"Oh!"

Dean looked up to see a woman standing up quickly, having been curled up on the couch. She nearly fell on her face as she hurried to them, wrapping her arms around Meg like Meg had a plan to get them all out of the apartment.

"I was so scared I was going to be alone in here," the woman said, tucking her red hair behind her ears. "I mean, I don't want you guys to have to go through this, but I also don't want to do this alone. Did you meet them yet? I haven't met them yet. I don't even know how tall they are. Do you think they already assigned the rooms or are they going to pick when they get her? Do you think-"

"My name's Dean." He held out his hand and gave her a warm smile.

She blushed, ducking her head a little. "Charlie," she said, shaking his hand. "Sorry. I'm really nervous."

"Yeah, we all are," Meg said, wrapping her right arm around the woman's back and holding her close.

"We're going to be okay," Charlie said, trying to convince them all.

"Yeah, we will," Dean said, and he hoped it didn't sound as hollow as it did inside his head.

"There's a bunch of games and movies on the machine thingy," Charlie said, pointing at the TV. "I've never seen anything like it. The storage capacity must be insane. Or maybe there's a server in the central building that holds all the information. I don't think so, though, because I can't seem to get onto the Internet. Kinda like we're cut off from the rest of the world."

The last sentence was strained and a little manic to Dean's ears, but he didn't blame her. They were all fucking scared. Just as Dean was about to ask her more questions, the front door opened again.

"Holy fucking shit," Gabriel breathed as they all turned and saw the aliens walking in.

Dean pushed Meg and Charlie behind him while Benny, Cas, Gabe, and Sam moved in closer, all of them forming a wall like they did when they were kids and the bullies came around, ready to pick on them.

They had to be at least seven feet tall. They had two large tentacles that were much thicker than the others, and the aliens were using them as legs. There were suckers on the inner parts of the tentacles, and the outer part was curled back to protect the suckers as they walked.

  
[art source: Ikameka](https://ikameka.blogspot.com/2011/01/tentacle-beast.html)

Their bodies were gray and rounded, then tapered toward the back with what looked like petals along with more tentacles that were smaller and tucked against their body. Each of them had one large eye in the middle and multiple smaller eyes around its face with a wide V-slit for a mouth. When they walked, they held their bodies up off the ground and smaller tentacles coming off their bodies waved about.

All seven of them stopped a few feet away from the group of humans. Dean fought the urge to hit them, and instead flinched when the alien in the middle looked at him.

"Dean?" the alien asked, tilting its whole body in an imitation of a curious human tilting their head.

Dean almost couldn't wrap his brain around it. It was such a human thing to do. "Yeah, that's me."

"Hi!" the alien said, the slit curling up into what Dean guessed was a smile. "We're going to be buddies. My name is Greg."

Dean blinked at it for a moment. "Greg?"

The alien smiled again. "We thought Earth names would make it easier for you. I doubt you could pronounce my real name, and I like the sound of Greg," it said, then gestured toward the other aliens. "This is Mike, Linda, Ellie, Bob, Brian, and Rick."

Dean felt hysterical laughter bubbling up, but he cleared his throat. He was the one everyone else looked up to. The one in charge. The one responsible for all the others.

"So, uhm, five dudes and two chicks? You guys are into same-sex couples, or...?" he asked, trailing off.

"Oh, we don't have gender," Greg said, his small tentacles waving around. "We chose names we liked, but unlike humans, it doesn't signify or represent gender."

"Okay," Dean said, nodding.

"Hey, are you guys hungry?" Greg asked.

"Oh, they're probably starving," the one Dean thought was Ellie said. "Has it been a while since you ate?"

Dean didn't really know how to respond, but Gabe decided to speak for them all and stepped forward.

"Yeah, we could eat," he said, then turned to the rest of them and shrugged.

Gabe always was good at stalling, and Dean appreciated it. If they were eating, the aliens probably wouldn't be fucking them. Which was a good thing.

"Bob and Rick have been training with some of your chefs," Ellie said, pointing at the two aliens in question. "They'll be making the meals for us all, and if you're hungry, just let them know."

"If there's anything you like," Bob said, "let us know. We can make a wide variety of dishes, but if you've got a favorite, we'll make sure to surprise you now and then."

Dean felt as if he had stepped into the Twilight Zone. His alien grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into the kitchen while each of the other aliens took their respective humans and did the same, all of them chatting about the weather and the fixtures in the house, the artwork on the walls, and all the things they've wanted to try on Earth.

The humans were mostly quiet, unsure how to behave, and still scared that the activities could start at any moment. They sat at the table, picking at their food, which was very good, and trying to keep up with the chatter, but it all blended together after a while.

"Would anyone like to choose a movie?" one of the aliens asked.

Dean couldn't remember which alien it was, but it was sitting across from Charlie. All the aliens waited patiently.

"The Blob," Cas blurted.

Everyone turned to him, all the humans a little surprised, but the aliens were thrilled, and three of them got up and headed for the living room while the others started cleaning up the dishes.

"The Blob?!" Sam asked. "Really?"

Cas smirked. "Seems appropriate."

"If one of you fuckers even thinks of suggesting we watch Japanese tentacle porn," Charlie hissed, "I'm gonna knife you in your sleep."

*

It was a good thing the couches were big and deep, because the aliens decided they should all cuddle. Dean was sitting with Greg, who had his tentacles wrapped around Dean's shoulder and waist, while Sam sat across from Dean, his own alien having pulled him on top of its tentacles as if they were a lap.

Meg seemed to have settled in and was using her alien's tentacles as a pillow while Cas was almost on the edge of the couch cushion, his left knee the only thing touching his alien. Benny's alien was playing with his beard as Charlie's alien stroked her shoulders, like it was giving her a massage.

Gabe seemed to be handling better than the others, and he'd insisted on a snack, which his alien was feeding him, one Dorito at a time.

The movie ended, and the tension in the room was nearly palpable. It was getting late, and soon it would be time to go to bed. There was nothing else Dean could do. They were stuck, and if they tried to escape, they'd be stunned and brought right back inside. If they even made it out the doors in the first place. The sensors in the building might have been programmed to keep the front door shut when the humans walked up to it, for all Dean knew.

"Time for bed," Greg said. "We have a big day tomorrow, so get some rest."

Dean took a cleansing breath and followed his alien, telling himself they'd be okay. Everything was going to be fine. They'd survived so far, and they were damn well going to survive this too.

The bed was huge and soft and any other time Dean would've been more than happy to sleep in it, but he hesitated as Greg crawled onto it and flopped down.

"Take all your clothes off," Greg said, waving a large tentacle at him.

Dean controlled his breathing. He could do it. He was going to be okay. He was going to hold it together and be there for the rest of his unit. He'd already assumed responsibility for Charlie even though they'd only known each other a few hours, and all of the humans in the apartment needed someone strong to hold it together. He could do it.

Greg held out his tentacles as Dean climbed onto the bed, and Dean grunted as the tentacles wrapped around him and pulled him down, snug against the alien's body.

The skin was different than human skin. It wasn't slimy like aliens were portrayed in movies, and if anything it was soft. Dean settled against the creature and closed his eyes, waiting for whatever the fuck aliens did when they fucked each other.

A small tentacle stroked his scalp, running through his hair, while another rubbed his stomach. The alien was warm, and Dean didn't even bother pulling the blanket over them.

He couldn't see a clock in the room, but it seemed like hours before the alien's breathing evened out and soft snores came from it. Dean's eyes widened, because who the fuck knew aliens snored.

And it hadn't done anything to him. He was safe for the night.

He almost felt guilty. Everyone else's aliens were probably using them, and he hoped they were gentle. He hoped the other aliens in the house had a long day, and maybe they had fallen asleep too.

Whatever the case, Dean hoped his friends were okay.

*

The next morning Dean woke to an empty bed. He hadn't slept much, but had finally drifted off in the early morning hours. He pulled his jeans on and headed for the kitchen.

Rick and Bob were cooking breakfast, and it smelled delicious, but Dean was more concerned about his friends, so he sat down at the table, where Sam, Cas, and Benny were already drinking their coffee.

"You guys okay?" Dean asked, keeping his voice low.

Sam nodded, eyeing the two aliens cooking to make sure they weren't heard. "Ellie just held me all night. Rick gave Benny a massage, then fell asleep on top of him."

Cas squirmed a little in his chair. "Mike sang me to sleep," he said, his cheeks flushing.

"Huh?!" Dean said, eyes wide.

Cas shrugged. "I was having a hard time calming down because I thought they were just going to, you know, fuck us. Mike noticed I was tense, and he kissed my cheek, wrapped his tentacles around me, and sang to me. I think I fell asleep only a few minutes after that."

Meg walked into the kitchen, and Gabe was behind her. They sat down at the table just as Charlie came in. Once all the humans were at the table, looking at one another expectantly, Charlie held her hands up.

"What the fuck?!" she hissed.

"They didn't do anything to you either?" Dean asked, hope flaring in his chest. A hope that he tried to stomp back down again. They were here to be fucked, and thinking otherwise would only lead to heartache.

Meg leaned forward, smirking. "Bob braided my hair," she said, then turned and gestured at her head, showing off a rather complicated French braid with ribbons incorporated into the design, ending in two green bows at the bottom.

Dean's jaw dropped. He had to be in the Twilight Zone. Or maybe it was a dream. Maybe he got knocked out under the hood of a car and he'd wake up, all of it having been some fucked up dream.

"Linda spooned with me," Charlie said, shrugging. "She kissed my shoulders a few times, but that's it. When I got up this morning, she had washed and ironed my clothes," she said, holding her arms around so they could see the creases in her button down shirt.

"Are they just fucking with us?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Dean said, shaking his head. "Maybe they're warming us up to the main event. What good is a fuckbuddy if you've driven them insane, right?"

"Breakfast is ready!" Rick said, both he and Bob walking to the table with plates on each of their tentacles besides the ones they used to walk.

The other aliens came in too, sitting down at the table and eating with the humans. Dean hadn't realized it the night before, but the aliens were using silverware. It was yet another thing that made Dean's head spin. If he didn't know better, he'd say the aliens were settling in to just hang out with them for six months.

*

Greg was vacuuming the entryway while Rick, Ellie, and Brian were trying to engage the humans in arts and crafts. Dean wasn't all that thrilled about it, so he and Benny were just watching.

Dean realized there were small things about each of the aliens that set them apart, and it was becoming easier to recognize them. Brian had wide-set eyes, while Ellie had a small scar above its top lip. Rick had darker skin, Bob was damn near porcelain in skin tone, and Mike liked to use three tentacles to walk instead of two. Greg usually smiled and was very talkative, but Linda was quiet and almost shy.

"Everything's better with glitter," Brian said, handing Gabe a tube of red glitter.

Gabe took the glitter, smirking when Cas scooted his chair away. Cas never did like the stuff, and when they were little, he would cry if it got stuck on him. Dean remembered beating the shit out of Kenny when the evil little bully had dumped an entire bucket of glitter over Cas' head. Cas was only six years old at the time, and Benny had cleaned Cas up while Dean took Kenny outside.

"I haven't seen one of those before," Ellie said, scratching what might have been its chin with a tentacle.

"This?" Charlie asked, pointing at a pink heart she'd adorned with glitter.

"Yes. What is that?" Ellie asked, leaning over the table to get a good look at the shape.

"This is a heart," Charlie said.

Ellie frowned, and Dean wasn't sure how he knew it was a frown since the aliens had no eyebrows.

"That looks nothing like a heart," Ellie said.

"I know," Charlie said, nodding. "Sometimes humans do weird things like that. I guess hearts were too weird-looking and so to make them more cute we came up with this shape."

"Are there any other shapes like that? Shapes that represent something, but look nothing like it?" Ellie asked.

"Stars," Gabe said, sliding his paper toward Ellie. He pointed at the star he'd poured yellow glitter over. "We call these stars even though real stars aren't this shape."

"Because it's cute?" Ellie asked.

Gabe shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Or maybe because they kind of look spiky to our eyes and we didn't know what shape they were until we developed strong telescopes."

"I like them," Ellie said. "I'm going to make one of each."

Dean looked to Benny, but Benny didn't have anything to give him other than a shrug.

*

After a filling dinner of tacos, burritos, rice, and beans, they watched a movie, and then it was time for bed. Again the humans all trudged off, expecting the worst.

Dean climbed onto the bed, completely naked, and let Greg wrap his tentacles around him. Instead of just his upper body, Greg wrapped his two larger tentacles around Dean's legs. Dean felt a moment of panic, claustrophobia, but he forced himself to calm down. The aliens were much stronger than humans, and even if he could somehow get free, there's no way he could escape.

Greg hummed, and to Dean it sounded like a happy sound. It only made Dean more confused, and he felt the sudden urge to just grab Greg's face and demand they fuck. Get it over with. Whatever it was Greg was doing, it was only prolonging the inevitable. After they fucked, Dean would know what was coming every night. He could prepare himself. But not knowing, anticipating the unknown was becoming difficult.

"Are you cold?" Greg asked.

Dean realized he was shivering, and he took a cleansing breath, calming himself down. "I was, but you're warming me up."

"Oh, good," Greg said.

Dean waited. Waited some more. And he continued to wait. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He opened his mouth to ask what the fuck was going on and promptly closed it when he heard a snore.

"What the fuck?" Dean whispered.

*

Three nights later, all the humans in the apartment were slowly losing it. The aliens had been nothing but nice to all of them, but that anticipation was killing them.

"I don't know what to do," Charlie said as they sat at the table eating their lunch.

The aliens only ate twice a day, so lunches were just a human activity while the aliens cleaned up the apartment and ordered more things for the apartment on the tablets they carried around.

Gabe sighed. "I feel like I'm going to scream the next time Brian hugs me."

Cas chuckled, a bit of a manic sound. "Mike asked me if I wanted to play on a swingset."

"Rick wants t'take me swimmin'," Benny said, shaking his head.

"What do we do?" Meg asked. "I mean, it's nice that we're not getting tentacle fucked, but this is ridiculous."

"How do you know it's the tentacles?" Charlie asked, and Cas pulled a face, cringing back.

"Should we talk to them?" Sam asked.

"What if we go ahead 'n ask," Benny said, "and they think that's what we want?"

Dean ran a hand through his hair. "We need to do something. I mean, if their goal is to make us beg for it, I'm damn near ready to."

"You want to get fucked?" Gabe asked, frowning.

"No," Dean said, then huffed out a laugh. "I just don't want to keep living in suspense."

"We've gotta do something," Charlie said, then shrugged. "I'm going to lose my mind if we just keep waiting for it."

"Who has the most open relationship so far?" Sam asked.

"Greg's the most talkative," Dean said.

"That doesn't mean open," Sam said, shaking his head. "Greg might talk your ear off, but then would flip its shit over the whole fuckbuddy thing."

"So you wanna talk to Ellie?" Dean asked him.

Sam shook his head. "She's so fuckin' innocent. She's inquisitive about everything and seems to be the most naive of the group."

"She?" Benny asked. "They don't have gender. Didn't peg you for being sexist."

Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying 'she' because she's acting feminine. She told me she felt like a girl and to refer to her as a she. She told me that's why she picked a woman's name in the first place."

"Mike told me he thinks he's gay," Cas said.

Dean rubbed his eyes. "Okay, yeah, this is... We have to do something," he said as he looked around the table at his friends. "I'm going to talk to Greg tonight. If nothing happens and we're just hanging out in bed yet again, I'm going to ask him what's up."

Meg sighed. "Thank you."

"Until then," Dean said as he stood up and started clearing the plates off the table, "we've got a Wii Tennis tournament to play."

Dean couldn't believe he was saying those words even though they'd come out of his mouth. Yeah, they were all going to lose it soon.

*

They were on the couches watching a movie after their tennis tournament, which Sam and Ellie had won. Dean wasn't really paying attention to the movie and instead was watching the way Linda was running her tentacles over Charlie's upper thighs.

Dean could feel his body tensing up. If the aliens were going to take it to the next step, that would be a clear sign of their intentions. Charlie seemed to be ignoring it, or maybe she hadn't even noticed, but Dean was watching Linda's every move.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Linda said, pulling her tentacle away from Charlie's crotch. "I didn't mean to touch you inappropriately."

All the humans froze, but the interchange didn't seem to phase the aliens, who continued watching the movie. Charlie looked to Dean, but Dean just shrugged. He had no idea what to do or say.

Gabe suddenly sat forward and shut the TV off. "Are you guys gonna fuck us or what?!"

Dean figured they'd be able to hear a pin drop if they weren't on the amazingly soft plush carpeting. All the humans waited for the fallout while the aliens turned to look at each other, matching puzzled expressions on all of them.

"Do you... Do you want us to have intercourse with you?" Ellie asked, frowning at Sam.

"Isn't that why you have us here?" Gabe asked, gesturing wildly with his right hand.

"No," Ellie said.

Mike leaned forward and tapped Cas on the shoulder. "Is that why you're so scared of me?" he asked.

"Is that what all of you think?" Greg asked.

"Well, yeah, kinda," Dean said. "Why else would you have these apartments built, then ask our world leaders to pair a human up with each of you? I clearly heard the word horny."

"Oh!" Rick said, then laughed so hard he fell back against the couch, his tentacles waving. 

"Oh, my poor baby," Ellie said, wrapping her tentacles around Sam and pulling him onto her lap of more tentacles. "No!"

"Wait, so what's going on?" Gabe asked.

"We don't procreate the way humans do," Bob said. "We don't have genitalia. We share DNA through skin-to-skin contact in order to reproduce. One partner carries the young to term."

"We're pregnant?!" Meg yelled, scrambling away from Bob.

"No, no!" Bob said, letting Meg have her space. "We don't need to reproduce. We could if humans wanted it, but that wasn't our goal."

"Skin-to-skin contact is an intimate act," Linda said, running her small tentacle over Charlie's shoulder. "It's all we need to be happy and healthy. It energizes us, and we feel best when it's done regularly with someone we care about."

"Wait a minute," Dean said, holding up a finger. "So you just came to Earth to cuddle?"

Mike pointed a tentacle in Dean's direction. "I told the rest of you that was the word! Cuddle!"

"Oh, then we made a big mistake," Ellie said, rubbing her chin. "We translated it wrong. No wonder you thought we wanted to have intercourse with you."

"If that's what everyone thinks," Greg said, "then why did your world leaders force you to come with us?"

"That's horrible!" Ellie said, wrapping her tentacles even tighter around Sam. "Those people are awful humans!"

"So all you want of us is to cuddle?" Gabe asked. "You're providing everything for us including food and clothing and recreation, but all you want is to cuddle every night?"

Brian flicked Gabe's hair playfully. "We'd cuddle more often if you were okay with that. We'll take it as often as we can get it."

"You said skin-on-skin," Charlie said. "Does that mean it you get more out of it when there's no clothes in the way?"

Ellie ran a tentacle over Sam's neck. "Casual touches like this where we can get skin-to-skin helps, but yes, when we're in bed and can touch all the skin we want, it feels best."

"Why six months?" Benny asked.

"We're employed for six-month shifts," Greg said.

"You're getting paid for this?" Sam asked, eyes wide.

"Oh, of course!" Linda said. "What we're doing will make it possible for our worlds to trade and better all the people of your world and ours."

"How?" Dean asked. "Is that what you're doing when you guys are on your tablets? Working?"

Greg patted the top of Dean's head. "Yes. We're training humans in new technology and also integrating all our technology. That's a lot of code to write. While we're here, we needed to keep our energy level high and we also need a way to relax. It's a stressful job."

"What happens at the end of the six months?" Dean asked.

"You're free to leave?" Rick said.

Charlie cleared her throat. "Uhm, what if we don't want to leave?"

Linda gave Charlie a hug. "We'd keep you."

"We can't keep them, Linda," Mike said. "They're not possessions."

"That's not what I meant," Linda said scowling at Mike. "I just meant we'd gladly stay here with them. Our contracts can be extended and we'll be compensated for the work."

"And we don't have to work?" Sam asked.

"Not unless you want to," Mike said. "We realize humans need a purpose, and if you want jobs or hobbies outside the unit, you may do so."

"We can leave?" Dean asked.

"Yes, you can leave at any time," Mike said, then gestured toward the door. "All our technology responds to you, and any time you want to leave, you can do so. We have vehicles available. All you have to do is call for one."

"And we can come back?" Meg asked.

Bob chuckled. "Of course you can come back. You can come and go as you please. We never intended for you to be prisoners."

"Although," Greg said, holding up a tentacle, "we do ask that you obey the laws. A large percentage of the humans your government assigned to us were in prisons, and we won't tolerate crime."

Dean's stomach clenched. "What do you do to us if we commit a crime?"

"We'd have to send the human to prison and a new human would be assigned," Ellie said. "So far that has only happened with a few dozen humans."

"Most humans around the planet are content to be in the units," Greg said.

"But I can't get on the Internet," Charlie said. "If we're not prisoners, why did you cut off communication."

Mike stood up and walked to the desk in the corner of the room before picking up a tablet and handing it to Charlie. "Tell it you want to use the Internet."

Charlie glanced around to the others in the room, then took the tablet and shrugged. "I want to use the Internet." Charlie gasped, then poked at the screen a few times. "I'm on the Internet!"

"We assumed none of you were interested in leaving the unit or browsing the Internet," Rick said.

"May we masturbate?" Cas asked bluntly.

"Of course you can," Mike said. "You can masturbate, have intercourse with each other, or go out and have intercourse with others."

"It seems like there should be a catch," Meg said.

"What's a catch?" Ellie asked.

"It's when something is too good to be true," Dean said. "This whole thing sounds like all the benefits and no negatives. When that happens, usually you find out later down the line that there's a huge negative waiting to bite you in the ass."

"Well, it's always difficult living with someone else," Linda said. "So I suppose that's a negative. You're here with thirteen other individuals and sometimes getting along is hard."

"What happens when you can't cuddle?" Meg asked.

"We get more and more tired," Bob said. "If we go long enough without it, we'll die."

Cas turned to Mike, a horribly guilty expression on his face. "I'm sorry," he said, pulling his shirt off and tossing it on the floor before plastering himself against Mike. "I didn't know. Is it painful?"

Mike happily wrapped his tentacles around Cas, his body relaxing completely in a way Dean hadn't seen since they first came to the unit. Mike had been suffering for days.

Cas must've noticed too, because he pulled away, Mike grasping after him, but Cas held up a finger, and Mike didn't give him a hard time about it as Cas shed the rest of his clothes and climbed on top of Mike.

"Oh," Mike moaned, closing his eyes and wrapping all of his tentacles around Cas, as much skin-on-skin as he could get.

"Not that I'm trying to get a look at everybody naked," Dean said, "but if we weren't wearing clothes throughout the day, would you guys have more energy?"

"Yes," Greg said, slipping a tentacle under Dean's shirt and tickling his stomach. "It would also help if you gave us permission to touch any time."

Dean shook his head, chuckling. "I can't believe you guys were waiting for our permission for this shit. We thought you pretty much owned us and could do whatever you wanted to us."

Greg sat up a little straighter as Dean stood up and undressed. Dean could see the excitement in Greg's eyes, and as soon as Dean sat down, Greg was all over him, a purr coming from where Dean supposed Greg's chest was.

"Dude, are you purring?" Dean asked, smirking.

"Yes, I'm very happy," Greg said, snuggling against Dean.

"If you'd like some advice," Sam said, "you might want to consider telling people this is all you want. People would be much more willing to come and help, especially with all the things you provide for us."

"Do all humans like to cuddle?" Ellie asked, rubbing her face over Sam's back.

"No," Charlie said as she squirmed around, wriggling out of her clothes, "but there's enough humans out there who do like it that you guys would be set for life."

"So," Meg drawled, and Dean knew that tone, "am I the only one who's a little curious about what you can do with those tentacles?"

Dean rolled his eyes as all seven aliens looked to Meg, confused and lost. He almost didn't want to put them out of their misery by explaining.

"What she means," Dean said, waiting for all of them to look at him, "is that, while humans don't like it when there's nonconsensual touching, they really, really like it when it's consensual."

All the aliens blinked at him.

Dean sighed. "She wants you to use your tentacles to simulate her genitalia until she comes."

"Multiple times, if possible," Meg added.

Bob's slit turned up at the edges. "Is this a group activity?"

Meg took one of Bob's tentacles and pushed it between her legs. "If everybody's okay with it, yes."

"Are most humans as bold as you when it comes to sexual intercourse?" Ellie asked.

"No," Sam said, shaking his head.

Meg moaned and Dean chuckled. She had never been shy about sexuality, but this was a whole new ballgame. If someone had told Dean a year ago he'd be sitting in a luxury apartment with seven aliens, the friends he grew up with in the orphanage, and a complete stranger, asking the aliens to get them off sexually, he would've laughed until he passed out.

Greg brushed a tentacle over Dean's left nipple. "Do you want me to stimulate you sexually too?" he whispered in Dean's ear.

The lottery was something literally everyone in the world had feared. For months humans lived in terror. Within a matter of months those same humans discovered the secret that the rest of the world didn't know, and they decided to keep it a secret.

No one else needed to know what those aliens could do with their tentacles.

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: It was all a misunderstanding. There's no non-con, and all the aliens want to do is cuddle with humans.


End file.
